WHAT would a Civil Engineering Licensure Examination (CELE) board topnotcher construct?

A home for the squatters was the answer of topnotcher Maricel Aquino who garnered a score of 99.1 percent in the November 2008 CELE.

“Ayaw ko kasi ng may palaboy laboy. Nung nagtrabaho ako dito sa Manila, nakita ko ang gulo. May mga squatters. Gusto kong magconstruct ng matitirhan nila [I don’t want to see people loitering in the streets. When I started working here in Manila, I saw chaos. There were many squatters. I want to construct a home for them.],” said Aquino.

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By Marjorie Gorospe
INQUIRER.net

MAE Paner has been in advertising industry for 25 years.

Her debut in directing commercials came in 1997 when she came out with “Black and White.” Since then, she has found herself drowned in a career of “selling” soap, political personalities and products appealing to a certain target market.

Paner is a stage actor in the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA). Aside from directing, she has been a commercial talent, appearing in a funny Boysen paint commercial as the nagging mother-in-law to a man painting his home. In the commercial, the nonchalant son-in-law keeps painting the wall white until he decides to paint over Paner who continues nagging him.

For years, Paner thought she was doing okay with her chosen career as an artist until she saw Rodolfo Noel Lozada, Jr.’s expose on the controversial National Broadband Network project during a Senate investigation.

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By Anna Valmero and Izah Morales
INQUIRER.net

MAKATI CITY, Philippines – For 20 years, Consuelo Foundation has offered hope to about 50,000 children and families in the Philippines.

Offering support to non-government and nonprofit organizations, the Consuelo Foundation has been involved in programs for the development and rehabilitation of abused children and spouses, as well as the homeless.

The Consuelo Foundation has about 125 partner organizations both in the Philippines and in Hawaii.

The Consuelo Foundation started a year after Consuelo Zobel Alger’s meeting with Patti Lyons who established Child and Family Service Philippines in 1987. Lyons was foundation president and CEO until 2006.

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By Ria Mendoza

FOR many Filipinos in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the underlying dream is to save up, go back home, start a business and eventually attain financial independence. But even though many overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) have done this before, a huge percentage has also found the path to entrepreneurship very difficult. Eventually, the savings from years of hard work end up in smoke.

(Photo: From left to right: UP Professor Ilano, Philippine Consul General Benito Valeriano, PBC President Lucille Ong and UP Professor Florendo awards the sixth ‘Managing for Business Success’ seminar participants the certificate of completion).

On the other hand, others have no solid idea where to start realizing their dreams.

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ADJUSTING to college life is already a challenge in itself, and Jestin Samson, a Filipino freshman at California State Fullerton University, talks about the additional difficulties he encounters as a visually impaired person. He has been diagnosed with general aniridia and glaucoma, visual malformations that prevent his eyes from operating normally. Video taken by INQUIRER.net multimedia reporter Erika Tapalla.

This is the last in a series of five videos capturing a day in the college life of this Filipino student.

Check out the first, second, third and fourth videos.

JESTIN SAMSON shows INQUIRER.net multimedia reporter Erika Tapalla the Disabled Student Services room at California State Fullerton University
and the equipment he uses to help him study and surf the Web. Samson, a Filipino freshman at CSFU, has been diagnosed with general aniridia and glaucoma.

This is the fourth in a series of five videos capturing a day in the college life of this Filipino student.

Check out the first, second and third videos.

VISUALLY impaired Jestin Samson, a Filipino freshman at California State Fullerton University who has been diagnosed with general aniridia and glaucoma, explains how he uses the Braillenote Empower device to study and write his papers.

Video taken by INQUIRER.net multimedia reporter Erika Tapalla at the CSFU campus.

This is the third in a series of five videos capturing a day in the college life of this Filipino student.

Check out the first and second videos.

JESTIN SAMSON, a Filipino freshman at California State Fullerton University who has been diagnosed with general aniridia and glaucoma, shows that his condition cannot stop him from having fun.

An avid gamer, he is shown here playing Dance Dance Revolution. Video taken by INQUIRER.net multimedia reporter Erika Tapalla at the CSFU campus.

This is the second in a series of five videos that capture a day in the college life of this Filipino student.

Check out the first video.

A FILIPINO freshman at California State Fullerton University, Jestin Samson goes through the typical experiences of a college kid, only he might see things differently — literally.

He has been diagnosed with general aniridia and glaucoma, visual malformations that prevent his eyes from operating normally. Here he explains his condition over lunch at the school’s food court to INQUIRER.net multimedia reporter Erika Tapalla.

This is the first in a series of five videos capturing a day in the college life of this Filipino student.

By Volt Contreras
Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines — Before Oscar Franklin Tan drew raves for his commencement address at the elite Harvard Law School the other day, this young Filipino lawyer had his share of silent, awkward moments when basic things like meals became ”an issue.”

In a candid, light-hearted exchange with the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Tan shared how campus life could be tough even for excelling foreign students like him in one of the world’s premier institutions.

He managed to stretch his limited food budget, for example, by improvising his menu and even collecting ”leftovers” at school functions.

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